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Thursday, February 9, 2012

From House to Home

You love decor, HGTV, online design sites, and the housewares section of Target. But you have no idea how to turn your current apartment or house into a home. You know what you like, but you don't know how to accomplish a complete look. Plus, you can barely afford to pay the bills..... much less splurge on decor and furniture! Fear not, design novice. There is still hope for you! Today I am going to discuss budget-friendly design solutions for turning a house into a home.

The most important thing to do before you begin investing in furniture or trying to design a space is to identify how you will utilize the space. If it is a bedroom, obviously you will utilize the room for sleep. But, do you find yourself working on your laptop in bed?

If so, perhaps a workspace would be beneficial in your bedroom. Do you picture yourself coming to your bedroom to talk on the phone or read?

Then a comfy sitting area with lots of light would be well utilized.

When you have an empty house or a sudden urge to redecorate, it can be easy to run out and spend your hard-earned moola on a million small decor items. But refrain, you must, my dear. Having clear direction of what you want to create with your space will always mean spending your money more wisely and being happier with your surroundings long term. Once you have a clear idea of what you want to utilize your space for, you need to discover your design style. If you live with a husband, boyfriend, or bestie, this will require compromise as you learn to fuse your tastes together in a cohesive fashion.

After you have come to terms with your design tastes, it's time to begin treasure hunting! The best places to start when your budget is tight are local antique shops and resale shops. You can find some beautifully unique pieces with lots of character. Try your best to look past the color, fabric or hardware on items- these things can be changed. Instead, pay attention to the structure of the furniture. Focus on the lines.

Once you have the base furniture for your space, now is the time to spruce it up! I have a set of matching lamps on each side of my bed that I originally bought from Hobby Lobby for a total of $100. The lamps had red shades with leopard trim and a brown base. Sure, they were cute. But they weren't quite right for my super-girly bedroom. We painted the base a turquoise and traded the shades for two larger white ones for a total cost of $50. I love how they turned out! What do you think?

Don't believe a home can be "spruced" at budget-friendly prices? I curated a collection of beautiful items that won't break the bank. In fact, they're all under $50!

such great ideas! I finally split our very large dining room into three sections: office, dining area, and play area because we seriously NEVER sit at the table and needed a more family friendly first floor! It's so hard to stay on track when decorating and really make your house livable and not just pretty!

I'm actually moving out of my parent's house soon and into an apartment with my very, very minimal older sister. I've been trying to convince her spruce it up a bit and she just won't give in! I love the carpet you posted in the "under 50" photo, I will definitely show her something similar in hopes of a yes!

Great finds and wonderful tips! I learned the hard way by spending a lot of money only to realize I didn't have a clear picture of the space in my head before I started shopping. Now I make sure I have a crystal clear image of the space and know where everything is going to go and how its all going to work together before I shop.

Loved the post! While decorating our first home, I have had to remind myself time and time again not to buy something because it will work, but to wait for something that I love! Patience is not my best virtue! Thanks for the tips and wonderful pictures!

There are some great suggestions and wise words here! I was once told not to rush into redecorating as soon as you move in - see how light or dark a room is before choosing colours and the room may also be completely different at a different time of year too. You need to get a feel for the house first before turning into a home. http://missbbobochic.blogspot.com/

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i love checking out vintage or resale shops they seriously have some of the best stuff!! you can get amazing finds there and then hobby lobby to accessorize the rest of the living room. beautiful photos!

SO true! Buying loads of little stuff is the worst mistake people can make. I always start establishing needs, choosing bigger pieces and THEN accessorize. Otherwise it becomes too easy to only spend your money on little stuff and you end up having to cut corners with the bigger more important stuff!

Now this is a fabulous post my dear-you did such a great job putting this together love! I love the budget friendly finds. I'm a big fan of finding images I love and thinking of ways to make them DIY projects. I have a lot of canvas paintings in mind. xo

Very interesting blog. Alot of blogs I see these days don't really provide anything that I'm interested in, but I'm most definately interested in this one. Just thought that I would post and let you know.